


Heart to Heart

by mydeira, Sadbhyl



Series: Responsible Adults (aka, The Menageaverse) [58]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-26
Updated: 2012-06-26
Packaged: 2017-11-08 14:42:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/444295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydeira/pseuds/mydeira, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sadbhyl/pseuds/Sadbhyl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somebody needs to give Xander a good talking to, and Joyce is just the woman for the job.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heart to Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Set a couple of weeks after Along Came a Spider and six weeks before the events of the episode Hell’s Bells.
> 
> Written by Sadbhyl, beta'd by Mydeira

Joyce was making dinner, humming along to Carole King on the radio as she reduced vegetables into tidy piles for the sauce pot when there was a light tap on the back door. Before she could put down her knife, the door opened to admit Xander, looking surprisingly uncertain of his welcome. She smiled broadly, putting down the knife and picking up a towel to wipe her hands. “Xander! What a lovely surprise! I didn’t expect to see you today.”

He held up a folded sheet of paper. “Anya asked me to drop off the play lists for the DJ. She and the girls all had to go for their fittings.”

Joyce nodded. “As long as none of them gains weight or gets pregnant in the next six weeks, this should take care of the dresses.”

Xander’s face went ashen. “Don’t even joke about that, Mrs. S!”

“Xander, you’re going to be a married man soon. You can call me Joyce.”

If possible, he went even more pale, his soft brown eyes wide in something akin to horror.

Joyce was taken aback. “Xander, honey, what’s wrong? Sit down!” She guided him down onto one of the island stools, turning automatically to switch off the radio and put the kettle on.

“I think maybe I’m making a big mistake,” he admitted quietly, never taking his eyes off his hands.

Joyce wisely kept quiet, instead getting down cups and saucers, giving him the time he needed to open up. She knew the signs of someone in pain, and knew from recent experience that he had to find his own way out. But she could listen.

The tea kettle was whistling before he spoke again. “I wasn’t even thinking when I asked her. I mean, how could I have been, right? Glory had Dawn, and we were all getting ready to go take her on and probably die and . . . I just asked her. But afterwards . . .” He stopped, watching as she poured water over the thin tissue of the tea bag in his cup. “I went home, after . . .”

“After Buffy died,” she supplied, filling her own cup. None of them were willing to say it in front of her, even after all this time.

“Yeah.” He glanced up at her apologetically before staring back into the steeping tea. “After that, Willow and I saw how much pain you were in, and we started thinking about our own folks. So I went to see them. But I guess I picked the wrong time to drop by. Because they were together. And, you know, awake. Although for my dad that’s more a figure of speech, with all the booze he had in him. Mom seemed glad to see me, but I think that was more because with me there, he’d stop yelling at her and go after me instead. She actually looked . . . relieved.” Joyce could see the desperation in his eyes when he looked up at her. “I don’t ever want to do that to Anya. Or to our kids.”

Joyce reached out to cover his hand with her own. “You won’t, Xander. You don’t have it in you.”

“But I don’t know that!” he protested. “I’m only twenty-one! How do I know what I’ll be like when I’m thirty? Or forty? It’s too soon, I’m too young.”

Joyce picked up her teacup and sipped at it thoughtfully. “I got married when I was twenty-one.”

“And look what happened!” His look of indignation quickly transformed to remorse. “Oh, god, Mrs. Summers, I’m so sorry . . .”

“No,” she put her cup down, eyeing him sternly. “Let’s look at what happened. Mr. Summers and I had ten very happy years together. Or at least happy for me. And I got two beautiful daughters who I love more than anything. Yes, the last few years of our marriage were painful, but if it meant giving the girls up, I’d never undo it. It’s a part of who I am, and I pretty much like who I am right now. But I am the way I am because of my marriage. Does that make sense?”

“But if I could spare Anya the risk of me hurting her like that . . .”

“Does she want to be spared?”

That brought him up short. “What?”

“Have you asked her? Told her about what you’re feeling?”

“Well, no,” he replied sheepishly. “I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.”

Joyce sighed. “Okay, lesson number one on how to have a happy marriage. You have to talk about these things, Xander. Do you think she doesn’t have the same kind of insecurities? And by not talking to her about yours, she can’t talk to you about hers. You have to communicate. It’s the silences that will kill you.”

“You . . .” he swallowed awkwardly. “You think she has insecurities?”

“She’s a woman, honey. We all have insecurities. You just have to find out what hers are and make her feel better about them.”

“You don’t seem very insecure,” he said, picking up his tea. She was glad to see a bit more color in his face.

“Oh, believe me, I’m a mess. Ethan and Rupert could tell you stories.”

He reached for the sugar bowl and loaded several spoonfuls into his cup in rapid succession. Another hopeful sign. “How are you guys doing?” he asked, stirring the sugar into his tea.

“Us? As in the three of us?” She covered her surprise at his question by sipping her tea.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean . . .”

“No, it’s okay. It’s only fair, isn’t it?” She smiled at him, easing his discomfort. “We’re . . . better. I guess it’s no secret we were having a tough time for a while.”

Xander shook his head. “The girls, Willow and Tara, were pretty upset about it. They kind of feel responsible for Ethan since he’s been teaching them.”

“Them?” This was news to Joyce. He hadn’t talked much about the mentoring he was doing. Almost as though he were embarrassed to be doing something good.

“Yeah, he’s been working with Tara on healing magics at the same time he’s been teaching Willow. So they were pretty upset for you guys. Kept coming up with Lucy and Ethel plans to try to get you back together. Buffy and I managed to talk them out of most of them.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Only most?”

He blushed. “Dawn intercepted the flowers.”

Joyce laughed. “Well, we probably could have used a little more Lucy and Ethel and a little less Heathcliff and Cathy.” At his blank look she explained, “From _Wuthering Heights_. We just had a lot we weren’t talking about. At first because we didn’t want to burden each other, and then because we were angry.” She smiled again, ducking her head to hide her blush at the memory of how things had finally been resolved. “We had our own Lucy and Ethel moment before we finally got things out in the open. But this is what I’m telling you. It’s better to have a screaming fight and have everything on the table than to keep things from each other.”

“My parents fought all the time,” he protested.

“But honey, they never _said_ anything. You know that.”

He looked pained, but before he could respond, they heard the front door open and voices talking in the front hall.

Xander slipped out of his seat. “I should get going.”

Joyce stopped him at the door. “You need to talk to Anya about this. It’s better you deal with it now than have it blow up in your face.”

He hesitated, holding the door open before looking at her with a bemused smile. “Bet you guys never figured you’d be the ones with the healthy relationship we all look to as an example.”

The surprise of that pulled her up sharply. The kids looked to them for a model for their relationships? When had that happened?

“Thanks. Joyce.” And with a last endearing smile he left, closing the door behind him.

“Was that Xander?” Rupert asked as he came into the kitchen, pausing to press a welcome kiss against her temple.

Twisting her neck, she gave him a quick kiss in return before picking up where she’d left off with dinner. “Yeah, he was dropping some things off for the wedding, and we ended up talking.”

He started getting dishes down to set the table. “Is everything alright?”

She paused, remembering Xander’s farewell. The parting words of a married man. “I think so. I think it’s going to be fine.”


End file.
